Pink Ranger, Lavender Favorite, Purple Plotter
by TheLadyIchigo
Summary: On one average day in Wintown, three lives become intertwined after a series of events. For a headstrong ranger, an innocent girl, and a disgruntled man it marks the beginning of a chain of events that will last throughout their lives. Involves OCs
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Rising Ranger Star

Elita, Wintown Ranger Rank 8, strode quickly from the Ranger Base towards the edge of town. Her leader, Steven, had just assigned her a mission to investigate some strange sounds originating from Panula Cave. With Skarmory at her side, Elita confidently walked out of Wintown, paying little mind to the strange man dressed all in purple by the town entrance. It was a quick trek to Panula Cave. Once she had set foot within the icy cavern, the strange sounds reported quickly became apparent. It was a sort of eerie echoing wail.

'It almost sounds like crying' Elita thought.

Elita quickly headed further into the cave towards the source of the noise. It didn't take her long to locate it. Not too deep into the cave in one of the few areas where there was running water, Elita found a small girl, crying loudly. She looked no older than 5 years old and Elita found herself wondering what a young child was doing her all alone. Her lavender hair was put up into pigtails, held in place by pink bubble ties. There was also a huge pink ribbon on the back of her head. Her dress was the same shade of pink and very poufy. Elita knelt down besides the girl, who stopped her bawling to look up at the Ranger with puffy blue eyes.

"What's your name, sweetie?" Elita asked her calmly.

The young girl sniffled. "Raum"

'Weird name.' Elita thought. 'Who names a little girl Raum?'

Nevertheless, Elita smiled and extended her hand out to the girl. "Let's get you out of this cave, Raum."

Raum shook her head 'no'. "No! Not without Growlithe!"

Elita frowned. "Growlithe?"

Raum nodded and paused, like she was trying to figure out what to say.

'Or what not to say' Elita told herself.

Finally Raum said "Growlithe is my friend. We came into the cave together, but he got confused by some Jynx and ran off, scared. I tried to follow him, but he's so much faster than me…and I got lost."

Raum huffed indigently. "I'm not leaving without Growlithe!"

Elita sighed. 'Great, a picky kid'. "Okay, Raum. I'll go find your Growlithe for you. You just stay here and wait for me, okay?"

Raum nodded. With a slight sigh, Elita rode to her feet and headed back into the cave to locate the girl's lost Pokémon. She encountered quite a few Pokémon along the way, mostly capturing them to calm them and soon releasing them. She did, however, keep the Poliwhirl she caught: its water PokéAssist would be helpful when she did find the fire dog.

In the deepest part of the cave, Elita finally found the Growlithe. It was still confused, running around in circles chasing nothing. When it spotted Elita, it quickly charged at her. With Poliwhirl's help, the confused Growlithe was quickly captured and calmed. Wasting no time, Elita made her way back to where Raum was waiting with Growlithe.

"Growlithe!" Raum exclaimed as soon as she spotted her Pokémon. She rushed over to hug the fire dog, which licked Raum's face in return.

"Now, let's get out of this cave." Elita told them.

Raum nodded and followed Elita out of the cave, with Growlithe following faithfully behind her. Elita led the twosome back towards Wintown. As they approached the town's entrance, Elita noticed there was a man there. Dressed in all purple, quite an unusual shade too, the man was pacing back and forth on the path, mumbling to himself. Elita stopped and was about to ask if he needed any assistance when Raum pushed past her.

"Daddy!"

Raum practically threw herself at the man, who seemed to be quite relieved to see her.

'Her father, huh.' Elita thought. 'His clothing taste is as bad as his name taste. Whole family must be bonkers.'

"I'm sorry" Raum was telling her father, "Growlithe got lost and then I got lost too. But this pink-haired Ranger found me and got Growlithe back for me."

'Pink-haired ranger?' Elita groaned silently.

The man practically glared at her before giving a short curt nod. He pulled Raum to her feet and quickly dragged her off into town without a word.

'Antisocial much?' Elita thought. 'A simple "thank-you" would have been nice.'

As Elita headed back to the Ranger Base to report back to Steven, she wondered if she would ever have an encounter with that duo again. She silently hoped not.

Years later, she would find herself regretting helping the girl at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Favorite of the Five 

She was lost. Lost, lost, lost, lost, lost! Helplessly and utterly lost! And she was without Growlithe, to make things worse. A glance at her pink watch showed she was already ten minutes late. She should have met her father at Wintown's entrance ten minutes ago. Oh, she hoped he wouldn't be too angry with her.

But she was lost. Lost, alone, and crying.

She had been the one to insist that she was old enough, at 5, to come through the cave with Growlithe on her own. How foolish she looked now. Sitting on the floor. All Raum could do was cry.

Almost two hours later, a pink-haired Ranger appeared. Raum looked up at the woman, slightly embarrassed. She knew her lavender hair was messy and her blue eyes puffy. She looked pathetic.

"What's your name, sweetie?" The Ranger asked her calmly.

Raum sniffled. "Raum"

The Ranger paused for a second, then smiled and extended her hand out to Raum. "Let's get you out of this cave, Raum."

Raum shook her head 'no'. "No! Not without Growlithe!"

The Ranger frowned. "Growlithe?"

Raum nodded and paused It would be unwise to tell this Ranger, who was trying to help her, that Growlithe was her captured partner Pokémon that she had gotten using a modified Styler her father had built. It would be even more unwise to tell this Ranger that the example Styler had been 'recovered' from a fellow Wintown Ranger just three weeks ago. It would also be unwise to point out that said Styler was currently the centerpiece of her pink hair ribbon and was currently broken, the reason why Growlithe had become confused and wandered into that Jynx's attack.

Finally Raum said "Growlithe is my friend. We came into the cave together, but he got confused by some Jynx and ran off, scared. I tried to follow him, but he's so much faster than me…and I got lost."

Raum huffed indigently. "I'm not leaving without Growlithe!"

'That sounded good.' Raum told herself. 'I just have to remember to get dad to fix my Styler.'

The Ranger audibly sighed. "Okay, Raum. I'll go find your Growlithe for you. You just stay here and wait for me, okay?"

Raum nodded and the Ranger left.

'Sheesh, as if it's a bother to go find Growlithe. What a stuck-up Ranger!' Raum thought. 'I wonder how long it will take her to find him.'

The Ranger only kept Raum waiting about ten minutes however, before she reappeared with Growlithe at her side.

"Growlithe!" Raum exclaimed as soon as she spotted her Pokémon. She rushed over to hug the fire dog, which licked Raum's face in return.

"Now, let's get out of this cave." The Ranger told them.

Raum nodded and followed the Ranger out of the cave, with Growlithe following faithfully behind her. Elita led the twosome back towards Wintown. As they approached the town's entrance, Raum noticed there was a man there. Dressed in all purple, quite an unusual shade too, the man was pacing back and forth on the path, mumbling to himself. It was her father and he looked very agitated as he paced back and forth. She really couldn't blame him: she was over two hours late. When the Ranger beside her stopped, Raum pushed past her to dash to him.

"Daddy!" Raum exclaimed loudly and threw herself at him. Raum could visibly see the worry in his face be replaced with relief as he hugged her. She knew what was coming next: a barrage of embarrassing questions about what had happened. Sighing, she decided to quick-step him.

"I'm sorry" Raum told her father, "Growlithe got lost and then I got lost too. But this pink-haired Ranger found me and got Growlithe back for me."

Here Raum leaned forward a bit more to whisper more quietly and sheepishly. "My Styler kinda…broke."

He sighed softly and told her quietly "We'll talk about this later."

Raum watched as he glared at the Ranger before giving her a curt nod. Then he pulled Raum up and pulled her away with him into Wintown. Raum watched as the Ranger vanished into the Ranger Base as they headed towards the mountains before she chanced a look up at her father. True, she was his favorite child, but he was no doubt upset with her and she would be punished for it. And now he had to fix her Styler too. As they walked up the path, Raum checking to make sure Growlithe was still following her, Raum wondered if she would even meet that rink-haired Ranger again. She silently hoped she would.

Years later, she would find herself regretting that thought entirely.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Concerned Father

She was late. Ten minutes late, in fact. The man known as Gordor impatiently tapped his foot as he waited right before Wintown for Raum. Raum, who was now eleven minutes late. She had insisted that she was old enough to go through Panula Cave with just her Growlithe. He had, rather unwillingly, relented in the end and allowed his 5 year old daughter her wish. But now, she was late, twelve minutes late. The idea that something had happened to Raum kept festering in Gordor's mind.

Of his five children, Raum was undoubtly his favorite child. She did lack the view on Pokémon and Rangers that he and her other four siblings shared, but Gordor attributed that to his babying of Raum. While the others were out practicing their capture technique with their new Stylers, Raum had conned him into doing her hair for her.

The example Styler, which Gordor had used as a base to make this first round of modified Stylers for his children, had been 'recovered' from a fellow Wintown Ranger just three weeks ago. The other four had insisted theirs be made into instruments, as would all future designs. Raum hadn't wanted a flute, the instrument she played. Raum had wanted something pretty and pink, so Gordor had made hers into the centerpiece of Raum's favorite hair ribbon. Raum had been elated.

'At least she has that with her'. Gordor tried to reassure himself. 'Unless she broke it.'

Raum tended to be the most careful of the five. She was the only one of her siblings who had yet to break her Styler. He knew this very well: he had had to repair the other broken Stylers twice, four times, five times, and ten times respectively. At least Raum saved him some time.

Truly, he couldn't bear the thought that something might have happened to his precious Raum. The only thing that was keeping him rooted in place here was the thought that he knew if he went looking for her, he would most likely miss her in the many passages and then they would really be in trouble.

All he could do was wait and hope Raum was okay.

Time passed. Some little brat called him a rather unsavory name and he had yelled back at the kid, sending him running away. Another lady had commented to her friend as they walked past how 'gay' his outfit had been. Gordor had glared at the two and they had quickly hurried off.

'An hour. Something must be wrong.' Gordor thought.

Two hours. Gordor was pacing back and forth now. He barely noticed as a pink-haired Ranger girl passed him. What had happened to Raum? Was she hurt? Why was she two hours late? Gordor mumbled to himself as he paced back and forth. He knew that a passerby would think him crazy, but right now Gordor could care less. All his thoughts were centered on Raum.

As the last of his self restraint faded, Gordor finally decided that he would have to go look for Raum himself and chance that he might just pass her by.

"Daddy!"

He turned just in time to have Raum pounce on him. A sigh of utter relief escaped him as he held his daughter, his unharmed daughter.

Raum seemed to know what was coming next, because she answered before he could even start to ask her.

"I'm sorry" Raum told him, "Growlithe got lost and then I got lost too. But this pink-haired Ranger found me and got Growlithe back for me."

Here Raum leaned forward a bit more to whisper more quietly and sheepishly. "My Styler kinda…broke." She couldn't meet his eyes

He sighed softly. He knew he shouldn't have let her have her way. And she broke her Styler too. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. "We'll talk about this later." He told her, almost inaudibly.

He glanced up at the pink-haired Ranger woman. He despised Rangers with every fiber of his being, but he guessed he owed this one something. He gave her a quick nod, a generous gesture, before he lead Raum away from the 'bad influence' and up towards the mountains. He noticed Raum watched the Ranger girl until she entered the base. He and Raum defiantly needed to have a long talk about Rangers….and he needed to fix her Styler too. It wouldn't be a good idea for Raum to like these Rangers.

He knew, years later, they would meet again under less friendly conditions.


End file.
